Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Update Makes Weapon Balance Changes

Highlights

• The latest update for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 focuses on balancing assault rifles and improving SMGs to enhance gameplay consistency.
• Changes to assault rifles like the Holger 556, FR 5.56, and DG-58 include damage nerfs, sprint to fire time adjustments, and burst delay increases.
• SMGs like the Striker, AMR9, and Striker 9 have received notable changes to increase viability, including increased maximum damage range and reduced aim down sights time.

A major new update for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 makes several weapon balance changes to various assault rifles, such as the DG-58 and FR 5.56. According to Sledgehammer Games, the new update targets overperforming assault rifles while improving the consistency of SMGs in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Like previous Call of Duty games, Modern Warfare 3 receives weekly updates that rotate playlists and brings balance changes. Modern Warfare 3’s November 16 playlist update brought multiple maps from 2022’s Modern Warfare 2, and a new Experimental Playlist lets players try out new features that Sledgehammer Games has been developing, such as a colored outline for enemy combatants in multiplayer. The following day, Sledgehammer Games released a subsequent update that reduced the delay for sprinting after a slide, making overall player movement feel more responsive in Modern Warfare 3. In a Reddit AMA held on November 20, the developers revealed even more changes for Modern Warfare 3 arriving in the coming weeks.

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The official Call of Duty blog revealed patch notes for the November 21 Modern Warfare 3 update, which features multiple weapon changes for assault rifles and SMGs. Firstly, the Holger 556 assault rifle received nerfs to damage multipliers for head, neck, upper-torso, arm, and hand damage. The Holger 556’s sprint to fire time was increased from 210ms to 231ms, so players will notice a slight delay when proceeding to fire the assault rifle directly after sprinting. The FR 5.56 received the exact same sprint to fire nerf as the Holger 556 with the former getting multiple damage nerfs and damage multiplier reductions. What’s more, Sledgehammer Games nerfed the DG-58 assault rifle’s overall damage and increased the burst delay from 100ms to 120ms.

The latest update appears to raise the viability of SMGs in the Modern Warfare 3 meta, since the Striker, AMR9, and Striker 9 received notable changes. The Striker SMG’s maximum damage range has been increased from just 9 m to 19 m, which is a 114% increase. Near-medium and far-medium damage for the Striker was also increased, and the Striker’s aim down sights (ADS) time was reduced to 230ms. The Striker 9 also received a reduction in ADS timing, but the SMG’s maximum damage was decreased by 16%. Slight adjustments to the AMR9 brought its damage multipliers up to 1.1x, and its sprint to fire time was reduced by 30% to 206ms. Overall, these SMGs should feel more responsive and consistent in the meta going forward.

Sledgehammer Games also applied several bug fixes to weapon challenges and camos, including a lighting adjustment to Modern Warfare 2’s coveted Ghoulie camo. An exploit involving locked weapon camos was fixed as well, so players who previously used this exploit must continue leveling up their favorite weapons to unlock those camos as intended.

Player feedback will likely be incorporated for future weapon buffs and nerfs as Sledgehammer Games continues to work on new multiplayer and Zombies content for Modern Warfare 3 Season 1. Assault rifles still appear to be the most viable weapon category for newcomers in Modern Warfare 3, but the buffs to SMGs could make them another solid option for those wanting to run-and-gun their opponents in Mosh Pit and other popular playlists.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 November 21 Update Patch Notes

GLOBAL

STABILITY & PERFORMANCE

• Resolved a crash that could occur while viewing Weapon Challenges.

UIX

• Bug Fixes
  • Closed an exploit that allowed players to equip Weapon Camos they have not yet unlocked.
  • Addressed an issue that prevented players from equipping the Borealis Weapon Camo once it has been unlocked.

COSMETICS

• Dragonfly Blueprint for the M4 (MWII) will now appear as expected across all platforms.
• Addressed an issue that prevented the appearance of the Io Operator (MWII) from dynamically changing as expected.
• Adjusted the Ghoulie Camo (MWII) to prevent it from becoming overwhelmingly bright in dark environments.

MULTIPLAYER

UIX

• Wins will now progress Armory Unlocks without first completing Daily Challenges.
  • Today’s update includes UI modifications to reflect this previously-implemented change.
• Bug Fixes
  • Players will no longer experience graphical corruption when transitioning between the Field Upgrades and Social menus.
  • XP requirements in the Progression menu will no longer display as negative values under certain conditions.
  • Attachments that are incompatible with the current selection can no longer be equipped to a Weapon.

PROGRESSION

• Challenges
  • Updated the description of the Gilded Camo challenge for the MTZ-556 (Assault Rifle) to accurately reflect the intended requirements.
  • Weekly Challenges requiring Triple Kills and Quad Kills will now properly track completion.

MAPS

• Derail
  • Adjusted environmental fog to increase contrast, improving visibility.
• Estate
  • Decreased grime on windows of the Lodge to improve clarity.

WEAPONS

• Holger 556 (Assault Rifle)
  • Decreased headshot damage multiplier from 1.4x to 1.3x.
  • Decreased neck, upper-torso, arm, and hand damage multipliers from 1.1x to 1x.
  • Increased sprint to fire time from 210ms to 231ms (+10%).
• DG-58 (Assault Rifle)
  • Decreased maximum damage from 44 to 40 (-9%).
  • Decreased medium damage from 35 to 33 (-6%).
  • Decreased neck damage multiplier from 1.4x to 1.1x.
  • Increased burst delay from 100ms to 120ms (+20%).
• FR 5.56 (Assault Rifle)
  • Decreased maximum damage from 44 to 43 (-2%).
  • Decreased near-medium damage from 40 to 36 (-10%).
  • Decreased minimum damage from 36 to 33 (-8%).
  • Decreased headshot damage multiplier from 1.5x to 1.4x.
  • Decreased leg and foot damage multipliers from 1x to 0.9x.
  • Increased aim down sights time from 240ms to 260ms (+8%).
  • Increased sprint to fire time from 210ms to 231ms (+10%).
• Striker (Submachine Gun)
  • Increased maximum damage range from 9m to 19m (+114%).
  • Increased near-medium damage from 33 to 36 (+9%).
  • Increased far-medium damage from 27 to 33 (+22%).
  • Decreased aim down sights time from 240ms to 230ms (-4%).
• AMR9 (Submachine Gun)
  • Increased lower-torso, lower-arm, and hand damage multipliers from 1x to 1.1x.
  • Decreased sprint to fire time from 294ms to 206ms (-30%).
• Striker 9 (Submachine Gun)
  • Decreased maximum damage from 32 to 27 (-16%).
  • Decreased aim down sights time from 275ms to 225ms (-18%).

The highlight of this balance pass is a reduction to the lethality of the FR 5.56 and DG-58. Both Weapons will now require two headshots to kill an enemy with a single 3-round burst fire. Additionally, these changes aim to improve the consistency and viability of Submachine Guns to the intended target for the class.

PERKS

• Ordnance Gloves
  • Removed undocumented reduction to the cook duration of Frag Grenades.

ZOMBIES

GAMEPLAY

• Missions
  • Storm the Castle
    • Warlord kill credit is now squad-based, and the required mission item will now spawn when a member of your squad kills the target.
  • Interceptor
    • Destroy Mercenary Convoy now accurately tracks completion.
    • Picking up a Keycard from a mercenary at the convoy will always count toward mission completion.
• Perk-A-Colas
  • Tombstone Soda
    • Tombstones will no longer appear in the next session if a player exfils while in last stand.
• General
  • Essence can no longer be stowed.
  • Addressed an issue where newly stowed items, acquisitions, or schematics would be replaced, and therefore lost, with previously sold items that underwent a swap item menu interaction.
  • Closed various exploits related to the use of Cymbal Monkeys.
  • Closed an exploit that permitted duplication of scorestreaks.

ENEMIES

• Zombies
  • Zombie spawn priority has been adjusted to favor increased ground spawning.
    • Players can expect fewer ambient Zombie spawns on rooftops and higher elevations.
• Terminus Outcomes
  • All Mercenaries
    • Mercenary damage against Player Armor has been reduced.
  • Shielded Soldiers
    • Shielded Soldiers now have a slower fire rate when engaged.

WEAPONS

• Pack-A-Punch
  • Addressed an interaction and UI issue that would incorrectly show Pack-A-Punch Level III as Pack-A-Punch Level IV.

STABILITY